21.   Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman supported a farm bill proposed by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee.

22.   Both Democrats and Republicans consider a new farm bill one of the most important measures of the year.

23.   Bush also approved a farm bill this spring that includes major crop subsidies in Midwestern states where Republicans hope to make gains.

24.   Bush Thursday also endorsed a new farm subsidy bill that EU officials said violated international trade rules.

25.   Bush said nothing about the farm bill during his trip on Monday to Chicago, which focused on welfare reform.

26.   Budget austerity and a spreading antipathy toward welfare for businesses and the well-off have combined to bring farm reform bills to the House and Senate floors.

27.   Bush said nothing about the farm bill during his trip on Monday to Chicago, which focused on overhauling the welfare system.

28.   But Leahy shoved the provision into the farm bill before it emerged from conference.

29.   But partisan wrangling blocked action on a farm bill and help for insurers.

30.   But that sugar program, renewed every five years along with the rest of the farm bill, is no longer a sacred cow.